Crews have installed steel trusses, completed the North Temple street tunnel, removed the Church Office Building plaza fountain and are preparing for additional excavation as work continues on the Salt Lake Temple renovation project.
The largest temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been closed for a major renovation since December 2019.
Here are latest details and photos showing the changes to the Salt Lake Temple for June 2021, according to the church’s Newsroom.
Steel trusses
Four steel trusses have been added to the roof of the Salt Lake Temple over the past month and a half.
“The existing steel trusses (painted yellow in the photos below) will remain and are paired, side by side, with the new trusses as part of the seismic design of the temple. The new trusses are erected two at a time to control the exposure of the existing roof. Each new truss weighs about 35,000 pounds (15 metric tons) and is 88 feet (27 meters) long at the bottom. Once a pair of new trusses is in place, cross bracing is installed to immediately provide lateral bracing. The bracing is not welded in place but secured by nuts and bolts to avoid the risk of fire.”
More excavation and additional floors
“The deep secant wall, with buttresses that were previously built, is being gradually exposed to prepare for further deep excavation needed to construct three additional floors of the temple facilities. These facilities will be directly north of the temple and include the baptismal fonts, additional sealing rooms, dressing rooms, administrative offices and so forth. The buttresses of the secant wall will also resist the loads and lateral forces from the massive weight of the temple, which exceeds 185 million pounds (84,000 metric tons).”
What are walers?
“Large horizontal steel beams, called walers, are installed to further brace and strengthen the steel and concrete columns that form the secant wall. Post-tensioned cables run through the walers and add pressure against the secant wall. This helps resist the soil pressure that naturally increases with depth. The depth of the secant wall is approximately 80 feet (24 meters). Excavation will continue until it reaches the depth of the bottom of the new lower third floor of the additional facilities.”
North Temple tunnel
“The tunnel underneath North Temple street that will connect Conference Center parking to the new second floor of the temple is now complete up to the wall of the Conference Center parking garage. The tunnel wall is lined with concrete, and the floor is now a structural concrete slab. The tunnel will be excavated into the Conference Center parking lot in the coming months.”
Fountain removed
Crews have removed the large fountain from the Church Office Building plaza.
To learn more about the Salt Lake temple renovation, visit templesquare.org or ChurchofJesusChrist.org.